The present invention relates to cooking appliances and more particularly to a temperature sensor for a cooking device with improved characteristics.
Timers for various devices are well known. Also, a temperature sensor installed in a cooking device for cutting off power when the temperature of a foodstuff being cooked has exceeded a predetermined value in order to prevent the foodstuff from being burned are known in the art. However, the prior art temperature sensor suffered from a disadvantage. For example, foodstuffs having thickness different from the default thickness may be burned since it is not taken account precisely. Thus improvement in this field exists.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a temperature sensor for a cooking device wherein variations in the thickness of foodstuffs are fully taken account so as to not only thoroughly cook the foodstuffs but also issue a visual indication as it occurs.
In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cooking device comprising a lower cooking plate of rectangular shape including a flat top area, a plurality of parallel, widthwise ribs on the top area, and a plurality of pairs of arcuate, opposite projections on the top area; an upper cooking plate of rectangular shape including a flat bottom area, a plurality of parallel, widthwise ribs on the bottom area, and a plurality of holes at the bottom area; and a temperature sensor including a circuit board embedded in the upper plate, a plurality of pointed temperature sensing units disposed at the holes and being coupled to the below circuit board, and an indicator lamp on the housing of the cooking device and electrically coupled to the circuit board, wherein a plurality of foodstuffs each is placed in one pair of the arcuate, opposite projections or across two pairs of the arcuate, opposite projections for being held in position by the ribs with the foodstuffs compressed between the upper and lower plates and the pointed ends of the temperature sensing units inserted into the foodstuffs, the temperature of the foodstuffs being cooked is sensed by the temperature sensing units, the temperature of the foodstuffs is converted into electrical signals by the circuit board, and the indicator lamp is lit or flashed when the temperature has reached a predetermined value.
In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cooking device comprising a lower cooking plate of rectangular shape including a flat top area, a plurality of parallel, widthwise ribs on the top area, and a plurality of holes at the top area; an upper cooking plate of rectangular shape including a flat bottom area, a plurality of parallel, widthwise ribs on the bottom area, and a plurality of pairs of arcuate, opposite projections on the bottom area; and a temperature sensor including a circuit board embedded in the lower plate, a plurality of pointed temperature sensing units disposed at the holes and being coupled to the below circuit board, and an indicator lamp on the housing of the cooking device and electrically coupled to the circuit board, wherein a plurality of foodstuffs each is placed in one pair of the arcuate, opposite projections or across two pairs of the arcuate, opposite projections for being held in position by the ribs with the foodstuffs compressed between the upper and lower plates and the pointed ends of the temperature sensing units inserted into the foodstuffs, the temperature of the foodstuffs being cooked is sensed by the temperature sensing units, the temperature of the foodstuffs is converted into electrical signals by the circuit board, and the indicator lamp is lit or flashed when the temperature has reached a predetermined value.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings.